Out of the 10 participating venues in this year’s St. Patty’s Day Pub Crawl, there’s a couple new faces taking part, according to organizers.

Organizing the event this year are Matt Brassard, owner of Matt’s Saloon, and San Martin Rodriguez of PrescottNightOut.com (PNO). The two of them wanted to do something that would help out all the vnues in general and both of them jumped on the bandwagon of keeping the Pub Crawl alive, Rodriguez said. Not only that, but it’s become such a tradition in Prescott, having gone on for more a decade, Brassard said.

“It just grew and grew forever,” Brassard said. “I think it’s important for Prescott to continue to do it.”

The way it works is participants will have a punch card every location will punch and when they get to the end, they’ll get a T-shirt, Rodriguez said. The two of them will figure something out for the first person who comes back with a fully punched card, Brassard said. Participants must be 21 or older.

There will be entertainment in every bar that night, Rodriguez said. Brassard mentioned Central Arizona Fire & Medical Authority will have some bagpipers at between 5:30 and 6 p.m.

However, even though there are a number of businesses not participating, Rodriguez doesn’t want people to forget about all the other places downtown. His goal is to get everybody together and show support for people who put on event after event, he said.

“We’re all community, we all got to stick together,” Rodriguez said. “I think this year is a year to say that we’ll bring the ‘U’ in community.”

Everybody wants to see the businesses downtown thrive and being born and raised in Prescott, it makes a lot of sense to him to help people out, he said.

Brassard said he enjoys seeing the Pub Crawl grow year after year, noting he can remember opening Matt’s Saloon 15 years ago when St. Patrick’s Day wasn’t a big thing. The Pub Crawl really turned that around, he said. Further, people will come out that he hasn’t seen for months as well as costumes making it such a fun environment, Brassard said.

Even if people don’t drink, they can still have fun because it’s all about the experience of it, he said. It’s a good event for people who are new in town and haven’t had a chance to check out the downtown venues and see what Prescott has to offer too, Brassard said.

“We’re very unique in what we have to offer here,” he said. “In such a small area with all these different types of venues, different types of music, environments, I think especially if you’re new to town, do the Pub Crawl and check out all these venues and you might find your favorite place.”

The Pub Crawl also goes with the Prescott Chamber of Commerce’s Shop Local campaign, aiming for people to spend money in locally owned businesses, Brassard. The last thing anyone wants to see is a lot of empty storefronts and the event is a way to get out and support those businesses, he said. Since it’s Saturday, the stores and venues around Whiskey Row and Courthouse Plaza are going to be open, Brassard said.

“Visit all these other merchants that are down here,” Rodriguez said. “Show up and say hello.”

By Jason Wheeler, reach him at 928-445-3333 ext. 2037. Follow him on Twitter @PrescottWheels